First veal case drug conviction

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July 1996:

MILWAUKEE––A Milwaukee
jury on June 10 convicted veal calf
feed dealer Jannes “James”
Doppenberg and his company, Vitek
Supply Corporation, on 12 counts
each of smuggling and illegally distributing
the banned drug Clenbuterol
and other illicit chemicals
intended to expedite calf growth
between 1988 and 1994, at possible
risk to the health of human vealeaters.

Vitek could be fined up to
$3.06 million, while Doppenberg
could draw up to $1.56 million in
fines plus 48 years in prison at an
August 18 sentencing hearing. Vitek
office manager Sherry Steffen, who
pleaded guilty to conspiracy and
trestified against Doppenberg, is to
be sentenced on August 5.
“This verdict is pivotal,” said
Humane Farming Association president
Brad Miller, whose investigator
Gail Eisnitz was instrumental in
bringing the case to light. “At the
same time,” Miller added, “it’s only
the tip of the iceberg.”
Prosecutor Eric Klumb said
related investigations were underway,
and that further indictments
were expected. Search warrants
executed by federal agents in September
1994 linked Doppenberg to
Aat Groenvelt, the Dutch immigrant
who in 1962 founded the Provimi
veal empire, introduced the use of
the veal crate to North America, and
developed the market for “milk-fed
spring lamb,” a euphemism for
lambs raised in close confinement
like veal cattle. Groenvelt is now not
only president of Provimi, but also
vice president of Pricor Inc., the
Dutch veterinary drug empire of
which Vitek is a subsidiary.